Self-portrait with soft hat

There appear to be two opposing forces in Julius Paulsen's paintings. On the one hand, a tendency towards an almost abstract, sculptural exploration of mass and space and, on the other, a purely colouristic accentuation of the surface. The Self-portrait with Soft Hat from 1900 has this tension. A cool, spare, grey-blue background against the warm colour of his face. A carefully worked-out, detaile…